Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies (with pumpkin)

These soft, chewy Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies are easy to make in one bowl and are so delicious! With added pumpkin for a bonus punch of goodness, these cookies are naturally gluten free, egg-free and dairy-free.

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Why these vegan peanut butter cookies?

I do my best work when I am required to be creative due to lack of ingredients. And these Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies (with pumpkin) are a prime example of that fact.

I like to play a game with myself called “lets see how long you can feed your family without having to go to grocery store.” It forces me to think outside the box instead of relying on staples or getting stuck in a rut of eating the same thing every week. It also helps to keep our food budget under wraps

Well, it was during one of those games that these cookies were born. I was actually planning to make my favorite Pumpkin Almond Butter Cookies when I realized I was out of most of the ingredients….especially the eggs. So, instead of scrapping the cookie plan, I got creative and these Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies were born.

And its a good thing, as y’all are always asking me for my egg-free recipes. And these Vegan Peanut Butter cookies are the bee’s knees. They are silly easy to whip up when a cookie craving strikes and made from some pretty simple ingredients.

They are soft, slightly chewy and so stinking yummy. I added some chocolate chipped into the mix because chocolate chips kinda make everything better in my book… but you can leave them out if that’s your preference.

What is “natural peanut butter?”

“Natural” is a word that is thrown around a lot these days and doesn’t have any true regulation on it. So, pretty much anyone can claim that their product is “natural”, without it being anywhere close to it.

Real natural peanut butter should only have one or maybe two ingredients. Peanuts and maybe salt. No artificial sweeteners, colors, preservatives or ingredients that you need Google to help you to define.

Some nut butter companies add cane sugar, honey or maple syrup to their PB to sweeten them up. And that is not a terrible thing as long as you know that there is sugar hanging out in your nut butter and you can adjust a recipe or your usage appropriately.

Some of my favorite natural peanut butters are the Trader Joe’s and Costco brands. I know there are many others out there, but I love how affordable and accessible these two are.

Why does natural peanut butter have oil on top?

Another sign of a natural peanut butter is a layer of oil hanging out on top of your nut butter when you open a fresh jar. This is total normal.

Nuts have a natural oil to them. That oil is supposed to be there. And when peanut butter without a bunch on gunk in it hangs out on a shelf, the nut butter and its oil naturally separate.

You can easily reincorporate back into the nut butter with a quick and through stir upon opening. I also have found storing an unopened jar upside down in the pantry helps mixing the oil but into the peanut butter much easier.

Suggested Adaptations for Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies

• Make these Paleo. Sub the peanut butter for almond butter and you have a veggie-loaded Paleo treat! Just a heads up, almond butter tends to be a bit thinner than PB, so the cookies might be on the softer side.
• Sub the pumpkin for mashed sweet potatoes or butternut squash puree. I find that these can often be used interchangeably in many recipes!
• Skip the chocolate. Leave the chocolate chips out for a low sugar cookie that is kind of perfect for breakfast!
• Sub the chocolate chips for raisins.

Other egg-free recipes you are going to love….

• Egg-Free Carrot Apple Muffins
• Chocolate Almond Butter Cookies
• No-Bake Peanut Butter Carrot Balls
• Morning Glory Breakfast Cookies

Loving the vegan peanut butter cookies and hungry for more?

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